1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for sharpening pencils and more particularly to sharpeners designed for the flattened style of carpenter's pencils.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The need for a sharpening device designed for the sharpening of a carpenter's pencil has long been well known, as sharpening has generally required the use of a knife to accommodate the odd shape of the pencil. The difficulty of sharpening this style of pencil with such a sharpening device without leaving wood on the broad sides of the rectangular pencil lead has long presented a major obstacle. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,903 a sharpener is presented with dual rotary cutter assemblies arranged to cut two curves in the point. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,759,129 and 4,918,816 four cutters and associated gearing are similarly used to achieve the desired sharpening effect on a carpenter's pencil. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,010 a cutting blade is driven around the pencil in a complicated "eccentric" motion by means of cams to achieve the required pencil point shaping. Clearly, the need for a simplified device that does not require the many blades, gears and motors of the prior art has been long sought after, yet such a device has not previously been developed.